Mark Question
Mark Question, also known by his alias ?''' or by his surname '''Question, is a bandit/bounty hunter who is trying to locate the Staff of Evolution in order to raise an army of powerful mutated beasts so that he could have his revenge on the Melorsia Alliance and ZeepCol for destroying his homeworld about 100 years ago. He is a cunning creature that has scoured the whole galaxy in pursuit of knowledge and information for even the smallest tidbits of information about ages past, ancient artefacts and lost empires. Question's primary goal right now is to find the Staff of Evolution, which he has pinpointed into several destinations including Ostafar and Blindia using the Signaler, a device created by Lo Cord Farla originally to scan communication signals from the Metaphysical Realm. Question has since then modified the device to locate powerful signals from the Source, since he believes only the Staves of Power have the strongest signals in it. Question has many enemies like the Jadé Order, Melorsia Alliance and the Blindolate Empire, but he also has his bandit gang called the Riddlers, who call him Mistery out of honour and because they didn't understand his name was actually Mark Question, instead thinking of it as a riddle when he said his name was "question mark". History Birth and Loss of Home Mark Question was born around 105,254 AI in the planet Qveztos, home to his unnamed species. His home planet was unfortunately located in the heart of a Zeep outpost territory deep within the Melorsia Alliance in the Plutonian wing. When the Urgulate Empire gave the Zeep permission to colonize a few more planets, Qveztos was on the list for its variety of resources and colours of spice. In 105,259 AI, ZeepCol entered Qveztos and razed the half-primitive settlements of the locals to make space for cities, malls and oil and spice mines. In the aftermath of the ensuing chaos, Question was the only remaining member of his species. He stowed away in one of the Zeep's freight ships heading for the Terran wing and left his childhood home behind. He also threw his old name away, taking a new name called Mark Question, since "his life was now a question mark". At the Custody of Lidilada The Zeep ship Question stowed away in eventually arrived at a Lidilada planet, where he then dropped out of the ship at. He was adopted by an old Lidilada couple who then loved him like their son. Question was later appointed in one of the new schools founded by Farla to fulfill alien workers' children's need for education, where he learned about life and how to behave in the galactic society. Question's primary interests were history and science, since he became fascinated about how this progress was possible, despite his upbringing. Rising through Farla Co. After graduating primary school at the age of 15, Question took an apprenticeship program with Farla Co, and for his first few years in the company learned about the galactic languages and soon became a fully-fledged worker. Through his charisma he managed to eventually rise through the ranks of the company, going through promotion after promotion, until he was noticed by Lo Cord Farla, the CEO of Farla Company. In 105,285 AI, when Question was 31 years old, Lo Cord took Mark as her secretary for the time being, until her three children would be old enough to inherit the company. Time as Farla's apprentice and building the Signaler For the next 25 years, from 105,285 AI to 105,310 AI, Question worked as Lo Cord's personal assistant, secretary and apprentice, and followed her through the rising of Farla Co as it grew from a national company to an inter-galactic enterprise. Question ofter worked through behind the scenes, and usually did the dirty jobs Lo Cord Farla needed to be done. Farla's and Question's partnership came to its climax when they co-developed the Signaler, a tool which can sense the Metaphysical Realm layered around the real world. Farla thought of it mostly as a mind-reading device, but Question had other plans for it. At around the same time Question had attended a special lecture in a Lidiladan university, held by the galaxy-famous scholar Sarado. Sarado had studied the Staff of Life one of Melorsia Alliance's many captains had received from Steve at the center of the galaxy, and came to the conclusion that it was similar to the staves the legendary Masaari healer Amicus Goodwill held to uplift creatures. As Sarado explained further about his theory on the staves of creation, Mark became interested in their power. He thought to himself that there's surely no better way to destroy the ones who took his home than taking one of these staves of power and using it how he wished. 'Beginning life as a Bandit' Question took the Signaler with him as he resigned from Farla's service, and left to the unknown. He started to explore the galaxy, looking for the Staff of Evolution as he thought that would be more useful than the Staff of Birth to him. Once he had that staff, he would raise an army of superpowered beasts that would only listen to his commands. One day Question came across a band of pirates who were looking for their place in the universe. He introduced himself and his goals to them, and the pirates were impressed by his extraordinary backstory of being an indigenous alien oppressed by ZeepCol and Melorsia and then raised by the Lidilada, and gave him their full support. They started to call him Master Mistery out of confusion about Question's strange name and his habits of calling his life "a truly mysterious life indeed" at that time. The pirates renamed their gang the Riddlers, and gave its full command to Question. Now Mark had a fleet and a group of loyal supporters behind him. The time was right for him to start hunting for the Evolution Staff at earnest. 'The Raid of Ostafar' In 105,343 AI Melorsia Alliance became finally aware of Question's antics when its entourage of captains and politicians met his bandit-pirates on the city of Guthorian in the planet Ostafar, located in the Muton Empire of the Terran Arm. It was here where Question also faced his first defeat on the hands of Urgus and the captain, when he realized that the Staff of Evolution wasn't in the Temple of Balance like he imagined, instead finding a hatched Sporid in its holy of holies. Question managed to escape custody through his minions and their fleet, and fled far away from the Muton Empire and Melorsia Alliance, where he was now a wanted criminal. 'Murder of Sukula I and Conflicts with Jadé' Question escaped to the Northern Wing, and settled with his pirates to the small empire of Empire|Blindia, where lived the Blindolates under the rule of King Sukula I. Question worked his way up through the Blindian court and after three years managed to work his way to being the advisor of the king himself, as the first alien on the job, too. He was doing alright at his job, although he had the tendency to shout too much during ceremonies and diplomatic meetings, ending many of them a bit abrupty, but usually continuing like normal. In 105,347 AI, when the king was supposed to meet with one of the Jadé Knights, Mark Question murdered King Sukula in cold blood and framed the young phantom knight for the regicide. He was jailed, while Question had now full access to the royal treasury, where he believed the Staff of Evolution to be in and mistook the royal scepter for it. Still, Question's plans were thwarted yet again by the Jadé knight, who freed himself from the prison with the help of his master, the very same Urgus who already foiled Question's plans once in Ostafar. The truth was revealed to the Blindolates, and while Sokou, the Jadé knight in question, was exiled, Question himself was sentenced to death. However, he was saved by his bandits once again, and they decide to follow the Jadé space cruiser for revenge. When Question's fleet followed the knights to the Uranian arm, he found out that they were following a curious ship heading straight from the Maa star system. The Signaler was receiving extremely powerful energy signatures aboard, so Question deduced that that's where the Staff of Evolution had to be. He attacked the Maan ship with his fleet, but this turned the attention of the Jadé into him. The knights defeated his crew's shadows and changed their ways, while their main ship shot down Question's own flagship, the Answer. Question survived, however, thanks to its two-ship design, and fled with the bottom ball-like ship far away from the Troobian Star Cluster and the Uranian arm to recover what he could. 'Life in Dragovirn' Question was alone yet again. He had lost all of his pirate fleet and loyal supporters in form of the Riddlers to the Knights of the Source. Defeated, Question took the nearest hospitable system he could find based on his location at the time (middle of the Terran arm) and tried to land there, only to crash to an isolated island in the middle of a ocean on a cold T3-planet. The island itself was covered in forests, and Question crashed his ship into one of them. When he scurried himself away from the wreckage and walked towards the town he saw in the distance, he was ambushed by the planet's native civilization-stage species, the Dragovlings. Before any blood was spilt, however, Question persuaded the locals about his non-hostility and calmed things down. The local Dragovling duke, knowing that his superiors would not likely look it good that an alien has set foot on Dragovirn's soil, decided to register Question as a Dragovling citizen, sending the required paperwork to his superiors and sending Question himself for a talk with the town's shaman. Through the shaman's discussions with Question, the town's Dragovlings felt sympathy towards his harsh life and all the hardships he had suffered through the years. They would allow him to stay in their town, provided he doesn't reveal himself to the government and therefore risk the town's public image. 'Present' As of 105,356 AI, Mark Question still lives in hiding in the Dragovirnian island. Publically he is identified as a Dragovlish citizen in the eyes of the government, and every time the secret service comes to visit the village, he would disguise himself as a Dragovling in the perception of the spies with his Signaler. Neither the Melorsia Alliance nor the Jadé know where he is now, but they have kept an eye on his ultimate target: planet Oculus in the Maa star system. There lie the true Staff of Evolution and its sibling the Staff of Birth, guarded by the Republic of Oculus 24/7 in their most secure bank at Gigantopia. However, there is one force that knows Question's whereabouts: The Golden Guild and its benefactor the Redbird Empire. Its leader, the Chairman of the Union, has taken an interest on this hunter of the staves due to his past encounters with Urgus and the Jadé. Perhaps he might be the key to defeat the Chosen One and his partner, the Missing Link. Nature Mark Question is a spiteful creature who doesn't know the word "forgiveness". He hates ZeepCol and the Melorsia Alliance in particular, as they were a key part in the genocide of his species on Qveztoz decades ago. On the other hand, he adores the Lidilada and their bashful nature, as they aren't afraid to say what they think about something. Question has warm feelings towards Lo Cord Farla and her sons in particular, as without working as their assistant, Question would've never known so much about the galaxy as he does now.